Published on May 13, 2019

Fire District Announces the completion and community open house of its new downtown Menlo Park Fire Station 6 - As it schedules a neighborhood community meeting of its

proposed new Fire Station 4 replacement in West Menlo Park

Pictured above – Menlo Park Fire District Fire Station 6 located in downtown Menlo Park at 700 Oak Grove Avenue – Credit Fire Photographer Peter Mootz

Fire Station 6:

Menlo Park Fire Protection District – On Saturday, June 22, 2019 from 10 am to 2 pm, the Fire District’s newly completed Fire Station 6 Project, located at 700 Oak Grove Avenue, in downtown Menlo Park, will be open to the community. The new two story, drive through, 8,335 square foot Fire Station can house two pieces of emergency fire equipment and up to eight firefighters.  The adjacent 1,000 square foot storage and display building will house two older historic fire apparatus that were previously stored at various District Fire Stations. The original wood Carriage House and horse drawn Hose Wagon were moved to the site and are the communities first Fire Station that was built in 1999. It is also the oldest publicly owned building in the region (See the attached flyer).

The new $10.4 million dollar Fire Station Project spans an 11 year timeline starting when the Fire District purchased the home behind the old Station 6 in 2008 for $1.5 million dollars. Local Architects with CJW designed the new structure and contractor Gonsalves and Stronck Construction Company was awarded the bid to replace the original 1953 Fire Station and build a new modern essential services fire facility. The Fire Crew lived and worked out of the 1231 Hoover Street home during the period of construction and the house was eventually torn down to finish the project.

Fire Chief Schapelhouman said “Station 6 combines a classic fire station look and shell, over a completely modern, efficient and resilient emergency facility. We constantly have people tell us how attractive the building is and I’m excited about showing the community not only the new essential emergency facility, but how we have preserved our past. We have also created an environment where children and adults can learn about the proud history and traditions of the Fire Service and also a rapidly changing and disappearing history of Menlo Park”.

Fire Station 4:

As the Fire District completes its second successful Fire Station modernization and replacement project in the last ten years, it has already been working on a plan and design to replace its oldest Fire Station.  Fire Station 4 is located at 3322 Alameda De Las Pulgas and Valparaiso Avenue. The 70 year old building was built in 1949 and is in need of replacement and modernization. Last year the Fire District purchased the home behind the Fire Station which allowed it to hire WLC Architects who have designed a three bay, one and a half story, modern drive through Fire Station.

Fire Station 4 serves the largest and most geographically diverse areas of the Fire District, where 37% of Station 4’s response area is in Atherton, 44% of Stations response area is in Menlo Park, 5% of Stations response area is in Sequoia Tract (County), 13% of Stations response area is in West Menlo Park (County) and 1% of Stations response area is Stanford Lands (County) occupied by the SLAC National Accelerator and laboratories.

The Fire District will hold a neighborhood and community meeting on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, at 6 pm at the Fire Station, to formally present, explain and answer any questions, concerns and/or take comments about the proposed fire station modernization project. (See the attached flyer)

Fire Chief Schapelhouman said “we’ve spent a lot of time going back and forth with WLC on designing an attractive Fire Station that fits into this area and enhances the look and feel of the neighborhood, while at the same time meets our emergency service’s needs and health and safety standards for our firefighters. Functionally, the Station is very similar to Fire Station 2 that was completed and re-opened in 2016. It’s a three bay drive through that can accommodate our largest piece of emergency equipment with space for up to ten firefighters to be stationed there. We’re looking at a new building that will be here to meet an ever evolving and changing community and emergency services needs for another 70 years”.

Pictured below – Designed by Architectural Firm WLC, Fire Station 4 was meant to enhance the local neighborhood look and feel of the area while supporting an essential services modern Fire Services mission.

The Fire District provides critical fire and essential emergency services to its areas in Atherton, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Unincorporated County Areas and on contract to the SLAC National Accelerator and Laboratories. Created in 1916, the District operates from seven fire stations, using 10 emergency response platforms with a frontline staff of 100 first responders who operate in a 29 square mile area that includes the San Francisco Bay. (See attached District map).

Station 6 Community Open House - June 22, 2019.pdf

Fire Station 4 public outreach.pdfFire Station 4 public outreach.pdf